The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

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What motivates a billionaire to give away half their fortune, or more? Not being a billionaire myself, I haven't a clue. So my cubicle neighbor, Dikenta Dike and I sat down to read through all the pledge letters sent in by the billionaires and nearly-billionaires that have agreed to do just that.

And just as there are a million ways to make a billion dollars there are also a million, or at least 40, different factors motivating these super rich individuals. But there was one overarching theme that came out of my close need: An innate need to give back to a country that has given them so much.

Growing up in South Africa during the time of apartheid, we had direct experience of inequality, including great disparities in health and access to good care. After thirty years living in the United States, we see similar disparities in health care on our doorstep in Los Angeles, and across the nation. What was unconscionable to us in South Africa in the twentieth century is just as unconscionable in the United States in the twenty-first.

We are deeply indebted to our community and our country for the many opportunities granted to us, and for a social and economic environment in which we could make the most of those opportunities. We consider it our responsibility to ensure the same opportunities for others.